Izumo-class
Technology & Combat Characteristics The Izumo-class was originally designed to serve Orb as a Long-Range Transport Ship, transporting supplies between the Resource Satellite of Heliopolis to the Orb's Space Station Ame-no-Mihashira to be sent down to the mainland. Due to each family of Orb's Noble Families sponsoring a single ship each, these ships would often be called on to serve as Private Transports for their patron family as well as being normal cargo Transports. In fact, the first mission of the Yamato Sponsored Ashinazuchi would be transporting Lady Caridad Yamato and her son Kira back to Heliopolis. This option would later be used by Lord Emir Uzumi Nara Attha when he took the Attha Sponsored Kushinada to attend several meetings with Altair President Jason Chance and a year later he would use it attend the Junius Seven National Memorial at the Zodiac Station, while the Ashinazuchi would transport Lord Yamato. During the attack on the memorial site the two Izumo-class ships would help defend the Station alongside the small Altarian Self Defense Force Fleet located there, and the normal ZAFT defense force. While the two ships were lightly armed compared to the other defense ships they still managed to help. However when war between the PLANTs and the newly created Earth Alliance was assured, plans were made to convert the three already produced Izumo-class ships and the two still being built into warships to defend Orb's interests in space, including Heliopolis Colony and Ame-no-Mihashira Space Station and Colony. Thanks in part to modular nature of the overall design, Morgenroete designers found it very easy to convert these ships into full-fledged battleships. The Morgenroete owned Dawn Civilian Shipyards located at Copernicus were prepared to convert the Izumo-class ships already in space to battleships, while the Morgenroete Facilities located at Heliopolis would produce the new modular attachments that would make the Izumo into a battleship. The first ship to undergo the conversion would be the Yamato Family's Ashinazuchi. Due to the secrecy surrounding these conversions only one ship at a time would be converted. So, while the Ashinazuchi was being converted the newly produced Seiran Sponsored Kusanagi took over the Ashinazuchi's normal transport route between Heliopolis and the Space Station, despite the protest of the Seiran Family. The Ashinazuchi was finished on January 4, CE71, a few months late thanks to the Alliance's new G-Project located at Heliopolis, and from Copernicus would immediately make its way towards the Ame-no-Mihashira Space Station to pick up the Pre-Production Astray Mobile Suits undergoing Space Testing there, while the Kushinada took its place in the Shipyard for conversion. After loading the new Astrays onto the ship the Ashinazuchi would make its way back home to Heliopolis. Meanwhile the Orb and Morgenroete Leaders decided to increase production by building a Ship-Dock both at Morgenroete's Main Factory on Orb's Mainland, and once the G-Project was finished on Heliopolis as well. However sadly on January 25, CE71 Heliopolis is destroyed by a ZAFT attack with the Ashinazuchi only hours away. This would throw a wrench into the plans of Orb and Morgenroete to convert the Izumo-class ships into battleships. Even with this sad set-back the conversion plan went on with the new dock located on the Mainland finished on February 23 and very carefully the Kusanagi was brought down from Orbit to be converted in this new dock a week later. The Kushinada would be finished on March 17, and the Izumo would take its turn at the Dawn Shipyards. While the final Izumo-class the Murakumo which had been being built during the last few months would be finished on April 7, with the new conversions already in place including the new Modular Attachments. With the Murakumo finished a new sixth Izumo-class would be started, which like the Murakumo was going to be built with all the Battleship conversions already in place. The conversions were finally finished when both the Kusanagi and Izumo where finished around the first week in May only days apart. The Izumo-class Conversion Plan, as well as other similar projects would help Orb in defending itself when the War was finally brought to the shores of the United Emirate of Orb. The Kusanagi would help in evacuating Lady Cagalli along with several other nobles to space when Orb finally fell to the overwhelming power of the Alliance. The Kusanagi along with the Ashinazuchi and the Kushinada would join the newly defected Archangel in continuing the fight against the Alliance. The Izumo would protect the small amount of evacuated civilians housed at the Space Station while the Murakumo would escort the rest of the evacuees to Altair, before joining Izumo at the Space Station. During the following months the Izumo-class ships would fight many battles and would make quite a name for themselves during these battles. Finally during the Second Battle of Jachin Due, they would really become legendary when three of the four participating Izumo-class ships took on an entire Alliance Orbital Fleet and won. While the Kushinada was destroyed during the overall battle, it would make many to rightly respect and fear the Izumo-class. Notable Ships and Crew ;*ODS Kusanagi (Colonel Ledonir Kisaka) :The ship that while was officially the Seiran Sponsored Ship of the class, would go on to be famous as the flagship of Lady Cagalli Yula Attha during the last stages of the Bloody Valentine War. During the Second Battle of Jachin Due it would lead two of its sister ships in fighting the vast majority of the rebuilt 8th Orbital Fleet. While it would be damaged during the exchange, it would still continue the fight to take out the GENESIS Super-Weapon. ;*ODS Ashinazuchi (Colonel Jeremiah Gottwald) :The first of the Izumo-class ship to be converted and would have the most experienced crew along the Izumo-class ships. The Ashinazuchi would intentionally be commanded by a cousin of the Yamato Family during its days as a transport. However when it was undergoing its conversion Lord Yamato would personally choose Colonel Jeremiah Gottwald to command the new battleship. He would continue to command it through several small battles it participated in during the early months of CE71, and right into Orb's official entry into the war. During these later battles Colonel Gottwald a longtime Yamato Family supporter, and the Ashinazuchi would serve the new Lord Yamato very well, with the Colonel serving as a good adviser to the young lord. Lord Kira would have the Ashinazuchi as his ship of choice and would fly off her during the reminder of the war. ;*ODS Izumo (Colonel Shiromada Gei Sahaku) :The Sahaku Sponsored Ship, and the first ship of class. However it is one of the last to be converted into a battleship and as a result its crew is less experienced then the others. It does have a veteran captain in the form of the cousin to the current Lord Sahaku, one Shiromada Gei Sahaku who is a veteran officer of the Emirate’s very small, and old, Orb Space Defense Forces. The Izumo would be known as the protector of the Sahaku’s Ame-no-Mihashira Space Station protecting the small amount of Orb’s Civilians that evacuated to the station during the aftermath of the battle. While the Izumo would briefly leave the station due to the plans of Lord Rhondo Gina Sahaku, it would return after the death of Lord Gina and Lady Mina becoming Lady Sahaku leader of the family. While the Izumo did not take part in many of the battles that other Izumo-class ships were in, it did take part in several small battles defending the station. ;*ODS Kushinada (Colonel Lionel Pendergast) :The official Attha Sponsored Ship which transport Lord Emir Uzumi during the early days of the war and before it. It would be the second ship to be converted into a Battleship, but it would not receive a complement of Mobile Suits like the Izumo and the Ashinazuchi till much later, instead the Kushinada would carry Morgenroete built Raptor Mobile Armors. Like many of the converted Battleships, the commander of the Kushinada was handpicked by that ship’s patron. For the Kushinada it would be Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Pendergast who unlike many of the other Izumo-class Commanders, who where veterans of the OSDF, would be a former Mobile Armor pilot of the Atlantic Federation. Pendergast would be would well-loved by his crew and over the months after the ship’s conversion would take part in several small anti-pirate operations around the Debris Belt and L3. The most famous of these operations would be the defense of the Barnacle Space Dock against Pirate Raiders alongside the Ashinazuchi giving the ship’s crew experience it needed to survive. ;*ODS Murakumo (Lieutenant Colonel Yurika Misumaru) :The Murakumo is the last Izumo-class to be produced and unlike the other four it would be finished with the Battleship Conversions already in place. It would be the Misumaru Family Supported Ship, who are the final Noble Family of Orb. This family would be reasonable for the Emirate’s Combined Military and Defense Force. After its construction is finished newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Yurika Misumaru is chosen to command the new ship. Yurika is the youngest commander of the five Izumo-class ships, only twenty-five, but is a Naval Protegee. She is also the young niece of the current Lord Misumaru, and the daughter of the former Commander of the OSDF. Notes & Trivia *'Notes:' We really don't have any backstory on the Izumo-class besides want little we hear about in the series, therefore decided to create my own and this the result. *'Writer's Note:' I have decided to classify the Izumo-class as a Carrier Battleship, which means that while it is still known as a battleship it doesn't possess the power of full-on battleship and doubles as a carrier hence the Carrier Battleship classification. Category:Warships Category:Battleships